The Opposite of Stealing

This month we have been exploring the third yama, asteya. Asteya is literally translated as non-stealing. I also like thinking about the opposite. If I am not supposed to steal what am I supposed to do? We started this month exploring the opposite of stealing. Here are some of the words, phrases and ideas we thought of: giving, neutral, providing, generosity, openness, compassion, communication, poverty vs. abundance, need vs. want and being present.

In this short video (less than 3 minutes) Brene Browngives a beautiful example of the difference between stealing from someone’s experience (sympathy) vs. being generous with our presence and being when someone is hurting (empathy). We have a few days left in August before we dive into the fourth yama.

I look forward to seeing you on the mat as we look more deeply into non-stealing, taking with reverence, greed and generosity.